Next is a little of a mixed post – there are also red pandas living at the Dujiangyan Panda Base in the Linze Garden area, so I made sure to visit them on this trip. Then the next area to see giant pandas is the Shuangnan Garden, so sharing one of the individual pandas I saw there, Mu Ye, who I saw on my last trip as well:
Red Pandas
There are two red panda yards at the base, and I haven’t been there to see these little guys since my 2017 visit – it seriously doesn’t feel so long ago! I’m not sure how many red pandas are living there in total, but in the first yard on the right side of the road I saw at least 4 at one time, and in the second yard I think I saw 5. But these are huge yards with so many trees for climbing and many areas that you can’t see well from the viewing options, so there could easily have been many more in each yard. It was almost feeding time when I went because these guys were all crowding around the keepers’ door and clearly knew they were going to be getting something soon! I personally like the yard on the left side a little more, it’s easier to see into this one and because you are viewing from more the bottom of the hillside (whereas you are at the top on the right yard) you can see a lot more of the space. I only went to see the red pandas first thing on my visit and there were maybe 5 or 6 other visitors also viewing at the same time and that was it, so super quiet and easy to get a good spot here.
Mu Ye 牧野
Mu Ye 牧野 is living in the Shuangnan Garden area on the yard on the left hand side. I saw him last year while he was still living with brother Xing Ye in the Diequan Garden area – now that they’re over 5 years old, it was the time the start living independently, I was quite surprised last year that males that age were still together, but as long as they get along well, it must not be an issue. In the morning when I stopped by he seemed a bit restless and was in and out quite a bit, even though there were some bamboo shoots out for him, he didn’t seem interested. Later in the afternoon he seemed more settled and was enjoying some bamboo. I feel like I didn’t spend enough time with him at all, he’s at a bit of a disadvantage by sharing this garden with mums + cubs.
